Literary Modes Figurative Language Symbols. revised: English 1302: Composition & Rhetoric II D. Glen Smith, instructor

Transcription

1 Literary Modes Figurative Language Symbols

2 Journey = Quest No matter how mundane, whenever a protagonist is shown in motion in a story, the plot exists as an obvious symbol of a hero on a quest. A. B. 2

3 Journey = Quest No matter how mundane, whenever a protagonist is shown in motion in a story, the plot exists as an obvious symbol of a hero on a quest. This likewise translates to a larger metaphor: any hero s quest is a journey for understanding life. 3

4 Journey = Quest No matter how mundane, whenever a protagonist is shown in motion in a story, the plot exists as an obvious symbol of a hero on a quest. This likewise translates to a larger metaphor: any hero s quest is a journey for understanding life. Readers consciously and subconsciously translate this notion in their heads and apply it to themselves and their own lives. 4

5 Journey = Quest No matter how mundane, whenever a protagonist is shown in motion in a story, the plot exists as an obvious symbol of a hero on a quest. This likewise translates to a larger metaphor: any hero s quest is a journey for understanding life. Readers consciously and subconsciously translate this notion in their heads and apply it to themselves and their own lives. examples: Homer Odyssey Grimm Brothers Little Red-Cap Mark Twain Adventures of Huckleberry Finn L. Frank Baum The Wonderful Wizard of Oz J. D. Salinger The Catcher in the Rye George Lucas Star Wars Richard Wright The Man Who Was Almost a Man 5

6 Journey = Quest Modes of Transportation = Important Symbol ship, boat, raft train, locomotive, subway, roller-coaster car, race car, recreational vehicle spaceship, rocket motorcycle, motorbike, bicycle, tricycle horse, donkey, goat on foot Any mode of transportation becomes an obvious symbol. It is up to the critic to decide the relevancy of the vehicle in the plot. 6

7 Journey = Quest It is also up to the critic to decide the type of journey: physical spiritual cultural psychological moral et cetera 7

8 Journey = Quest mode } quest { life 8

9 Literary Modes Realistic mode: Equal balance of extremes between good and evil. The world is full of both forces. The world is controlled by both unseen forces at one time or another. The goal of the work expresses a want to achieve the happy ending. Keep in mind, the happiness is not always achieved in the story. G E Naturalistic mode: Writer wants to expose evil, corruption. Here the author shows evil existing in abundance. The protagonist fights against extreme horror, suffering. G E 9

10 Literary Modes Romantic mode: In this case the hero is ultimately good, patriotic, devoted. He/She will triumph even if it means dieing. Some are shown in more realistic settings than others. The protagonists ultimately controls the environment. There exists an ultimate struggle between good and evil; however, there will be a happy ending. G E Fantasy mode: Examples include surrealism, magic-realism, unreality, dream logic. Good and evil struggle against one another in terms similar to realistic models. G G E E 10

11 Literary Modes Existential mode: The most complex mode of these five concepts: the world is seen as a living hell for humans, a surreal nightmare; the human race is dehumanized by the modern world. The goal of the work expresses a want for the protagonist to see how a happy ending is possible; however, more than likely the protagonist cannot move outside of the self-induced rut of their environment. Such characters are displayed as anti-heros. At best the element of good might be reached if characters acknowledge their mistakes. However, oftentimes these flawed characters are overwhelmed by the prospect of change and refuse to transform themselves. The idea of good therefore is a state not achievable it is an idealistic dream and nonexistent. G E 11

12 Figurative Language symbol: a visual representation of something else motif: a reoccurring symbol in various forms which appears throughout a selected work 12

13 Figurative Language metaphor: language that implies a relationship between two unlikely elements: All the world s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages (Shakespeare). simile: makes comparisons of two elements, but ties them together with additional words: like or as The torn edges of the ancient book shone yellow as an autumn moon. 13

14 Figurative Language personification: a figure of speech giving an inanimate object or abstract idea human characteristics for literary purposes Death sat in the corner thoughtfully smoking his pipe, staring at the young men and women in the pub. anthropomorphism: interpretation of animals with humanistic personalities Mickey Mouse SpongeBob SquarePants 14

15 Symbol basic image > symbol > archetype 15

16 Archetypes In simplest terms, these are patterns, characteristics of personality traits which appear in fiction. Northrop Frye, a Canadian literary critic, took the original Jungian concept of psychoanalysis and applied it to writing and criticism. He believed every concept which is re-invented in literature has a mythical origin which humans, as an analytical species, carry with us in our heads. examples: the hero s quest the good mother a wise old man the innocent virgin a runaway, rebellious daughter the evil stepmother a fool-comedian the nerdy, isolated intellectual { however, do not confuse with stereotypes 16

17 Archetypes Archetypes belong to the family of elements of: epitome: are representatives or perfect example of a type of person stereotype: are oversimplified and exaggerated characteristics which then are applied to groups of people > race > nationality > religion > creed 17

18 Archetypes A basic image can translate to archetype, just by how an author chooses to illustrate the image. A simple apple has multiple applications. 18